WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will give $26 million in grant funding to Ohio to aid in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the state.

The funding is the first batch made possible by the 21st Century Cures Act, which Brown’s office said he supported. More money is expected to be released next year.

Earlier this month, Brown joined his colleagues in the Senate to send a letter to President Donald Trump, calling for the release of critical resources that have been designated to address the nation’s opioid epidemic.

“Ohio communities have long been asking for help to combat the opioid crisis, so I’m glad to see the resources we secured last year have finally been announced and will soon help individuals and families get the treatment they need,” Brown said in the letter. “The release of this funding is an important step, but we know that there is more work to be done.

Congress and the Administration must continue to support federal treatment, prevention, and recovery efforts, and at the same time, recognize that any cuts to federal addiction resources will only set us back as we work to tackle the opioid epidemic in Ohio.”

While the bill that secured funding for the epidemic was signed into law last December, the distribution of resources was delayed, harming states like Ohio that are in critical need of additional resources, Brown’s office said.

The letter also outlined the Senators’ concerns regarding the use of funding from the 21st Century Cures Act to offset cuts to other federal resources that would address opioid or substance use disorders. The Senators called on Trump to fully fund federal prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. Brown has also written to Trump, urging him not to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, which provides 900,000 Ohioans with health insurance, and more than 200,000 Ohioans rely on for their addiction treatment.

Last month, Brown worked with his colleagues Sens. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Shelley Moore Capito, R- West Virginia, to introduce bipartisan legislation to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s keep the deadly synthetic opioid, fentanyl, out of the country. Brown’s bill, the INTERDICT Act, would provide CBP with additional high-tech screening equipment and lab resources to detect fentanyl before it enters the U.S. According to a report from the Ohio Department of Health, fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Ohio more than doubled from 503 in 2014 to 1,155 in 2015. Several state and national law enforcement organizations have endorsed Brown’s bill.